Shoe-clasp



(No Model.)

T. E. KING.

SHOE OLA-SP.

N0. 362,014. Patented Apr. 26, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEODORE E. KING, OF WESTPORT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO J. C.

HAMMOND, JR, OF ROCKVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

SHOE-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 362,014, dated April 26, 1887.

Application filed December 31, 1886. Serial No. 223,121. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE E. KING, of \Vestport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Clasps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My improvement relates to the class ofclasps or buckles that are adapted for use on articles of foot-wear; and its object is to providea clasp in which the tongue is formed of wire bent to shape, and is an improvement on the device forming the suhject-matter of the patent to Hammond and King, ofMarch 31, 1885, No. 314,669.

My improvement consists in a tongue-plate having a pivot-bar and the side parts of the plate extending beyond it, in combination with a tongue formed of wirebent to shape and pivoted to said tongue-plate,with the sides of the frame-like tongue curved outward and overhanging the projecting ends of the tongueplate when the tongue is closed.

It further consists in a tongue-plate made of thin metal with the projecting side parts rounded up andatongue-pivotlying below the plane of the tops of the side parts, in combina tion with a tongue made of wire and pivoted to the said cross-bar, the sides of the hook-shaped tongue being wider apart between the bends than the projections of the tongueplate, between which the sides of the tongue pass in opening and closing the latter; and it further consists in details of the several parts and their combination, as more particularlyhereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In shoe-clasps having a lever-tongue that is pivoted to a tongue-plate it is essential to provide some means for holding the tongue in a closed and also in an opened position with a yielding grasp. In some old devices of this class this is effected by a spring attached to the tongue-plate and cooperating with the end or base of tongue. In another this is done by a spring-hinge. In another itis effected by making the ton gue-plate in two parts that are elastic and hold between them the bread or flat tonguepintle that turns with the tongue, and

in still another at. the plate yields edgewise as the broad part of the tongue is crowded between forwardextendiug arms on the tongue-' plate.

As is shown in the patent above referred to, the holding of the tongue in the openedand in the closed position has been done by utilizing the spring action of the tongue, in combination with a peculiar catch-plate; but itis desirable to provide in a single structure a tongue-plate and a tongue having means for holding it opened and closed.

My within-described improvement avoids all chance of the tongue getting locked in the opened or closed position, owing to the jamming of rough edges of plate metal, as in old devices, and it avoids the objection to oblong pivots that were rounded, and so interfere with the spring action of plates that grasp them. The tongue, being of wire, has aperfectly smooth androunded edge, so made without special treatment, and is cheap in construction as comparedwith tonguesformedofsheetmetal. The tongue plate may be made of thin metal rounded in certain lines, not only for strength, but to provide for the contact of the catch-plate with the comparatively smooth upper surface of the tongue-plate, and such a plate, being struck from thin metal and being single, is of much cheaper construction than prior plates.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is atop view of a tongue-plate and connected tongue embodying my improvement-s. Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the same with the tongue closed. Fig. 3 is an end view of the device with the tongue closed. Fig. 4 -is an end View of the same parts, showing the tongue partly opened; and Fig. 5 is a section of the plate b.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes a tongue made of spring-wire bent to hook shape and provided with means for piv otally connecting it with a tongue-plate, b. In the form shown eyes a. are formed that embrace the pivot-bar b of the tongue-plate. The

tongue is broader near the bend than at the point or base, and spreads outward, forming on the opposite sides asort of cam at the points (L The function of these cams is to prevent the accidental movement of the tongue beyond certain positions by their contact with the inner edges of the side parts, 12 of the tongueplate that extend rearward of the pivot-bar.

The tongue-plate?) is preferably made of thin plate metal cut from a sheet and bent to shape, as shown. This plate has a strap or rivet-hole near one end, and a pivot-bar about midway of its length,that lies near the lowersurface of the plate and extends crosswise between the side parts, that are rounded up, as shown in the drawings. "This prevents the eyes a, when thetongue is pivoted to the plate, from extending above the plane of the upper surface of the side parts a sufficient degree to interfere with the contact between the upper surface of the tongue-plate and the bottom of the catch-plate.

When the tongue-plate and tongue are constructed and arranged as shown and described, any swinging movement of the tongue in opening or closing is obstructed by the cams a on the tongue until a continued pressure causes the side parts of the tongue to yield inward, the plate being more rigid than the latter and resisting any attempt to thrust the ends b apart, the tongue in this structure beinglatertongue-plate, I), made in a single piece from" sheet metal, with a pivot-bar extending be tween and lying below the upper surface of the side parts, b", that extend rearward of the pivot-bar, and a lever-tongue pivoted to the said plate and made of wire bent to hook shape, with the eyes a and earns a all substantially as described.

THEODORE E. KING. \Vitnesses:

CHAS. L. BURDET'r, H. R. WILLIAMs. 

